<CAREFUL AROUND THE ROCKS, YOU TWO,> Gyarados absentmindedly warns, turned away from the brawl to peek at the coral. Behind him, Buizel kickflips Kazuki’s head into a boulder sticking out of the waves. It isn’t quite the method for teaching a man to be more open about his attachments, but he had it coming.

Kazuki would be proud of the sheer brutality she’s learned to wield, were it not being used to clown on him.

<PARDON THE RUCKUS,> Gyarados nods respectfully at a nearby fish. <WOULD YOU CARE FOR A BATTLE?>

The Basculin is a worthy opponent. The difference in sizes between them is actually working to its favor, allowing it to zip in and out of Gyarados’ coiling tail. Gyarados struggles to land a hit, having to flail blindly in the water as the speedy opponent swims literal circles around him.

<Oh, Gyarados is fighting!> Buizel chirps. She’s sitting atop her trainer, who is now draped over a rock, bleeding. A wave comes to splash over the corpse, which Buizel does not pay attention to. <GO GYARADOS!>

The hit lands, but by closing the distance between them, Gyarados opens himself to retaliation. He cries out as Basculin clamps down his fangs, hitting a spot that was already softened from prior raking and biting. Water crashes over the ocean surface as Gyarados breaches, roaring into the sky as he thrashes to try and peel the Basculin off him.

Buizel perks up. <Oh, he might be in trouble.> But the battle seems close to an end. She wants Gyarados to be more confident in himself—not to the point of megalomania like before, but enough that he won’t need assistance fighting a fish that’s barely bigger than his eye. She remains cheering from the sidelines, ready to jump in should things take a turn.